


Martyr

by Chelonie



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus's head is a dark place, Chickenpets, Fanwork of Fanwork, If you haven't read Pacify you're missing out, M/M, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Pacify - Freeform, Pacifyverse, Snarry (background), do not copy to another site
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:06:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24648433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chelonie/pseuds/Chelonie
Summary: martyr1. a person who is put to death on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause:2. a person who undergoes severe or constant suffering
Comments: 11
Kudos: 71
Collections: Pacify Fan-Works: Fanfics for a Fanfic





	1. Ruined Plans

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Chickenpets](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chickenpets/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Pacify Part 1: Shatter](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21993898) by [Chickenpets](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chickenpets/pseuds/Chickenpets). 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Albus puts on a ring, and all his plans fall apart...

Albus had never quite realised how much pain he was in until he began taking Draught of Hedone to overpower the pain in his hand. It took care of that excruciating pain as well as all of the aches and pains of over a century of life and too many battles. It cleared his mind as nothing before could have done. If only he could have taken it before.

But he couldn’t have. Draught of Hedone was a potion that worked by inducing pleasure, it was highly addictive, and the toxicity of the ingredients would kill the user in time. It was only ever given, legally, to patients at the end of life. Severus swore at him every time he handed a vial over.

Meanwhile, Albus had to rework all his plans. He had intended to be at Harry’s side to the end. If need be, he would hold the boy’s hand as Harry sacrificed himself for the Wizarding world. Once that tragic necessity was concluded, he and Severus would kill Nagini and then Tom. 

His plans were as ruined as his right hand, destroyed by Tom’s cleverness and his own weakness. Albus was going to die. Who was going to walk Harry to his execution now?

Anyone with eyes could see that Harry was falling apart with grief and guilt. Albus was all too reminded of the year after Arianna’s death, and his own trauma. Perhaps he could have shared that story with Harry, but what would he say when the boy asked ‘How did you get over it?’ ‘Why, I buried myself in transfiguration theory for four years until I earned my Mastery and was asked to begin teaching.’ Harry didn’t have the option to hide from the world. So Albus kept his secrets to himself, and hoped for Remus Lupin or one of the Weasleys to be the one to put Harry back together again.

He never expected it to be Severus Snape. In retrospect, it was obvious.


	2. A Likeness to Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Albus hears a confession and decides how to proceed.
> 
> (All of the dialogue in this chapter is from Pacify Part 1:Shatter, used with permission)

When Albus took Harry with him to acquire Horace Slughorn, Harry played his part to perfection - a little bit self-conscious, a little bit scornful. If Harry but knew it, he was the very image of Lily Evans. Of course Albus couldn’t say so without revealing that he had listened to the conversation with an eavesdropping charm.

While he was with Harry, he dipped into his mind - so unprotected, unlike Severus’s.

_“But Potter, you’re in my bedroom.”_

_“Then make me stop.”_

_“Merlin, Potter. This isn’t what you need!”_

_“Can you be angry at me again?”_

_“If you refuse to take your medicine, I will put you out myself you mad beast.”_

_“You know I’ve never done anything like this before.”_

After returning, he summoned Severus to the library to inform him that he would be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts in the upcoming year. Severus was pleased, then suspicious, but finally accepted.

“But there is something you must know.” Severus said. “Something I have done. I wouldn’t feel right if - ” 

Ah. Albus had expected things to carry on rather longer before Severus had felt the need to confess. “Is this about Harry?”

“I - yes.”

Albus did not prompt him, but only steepled his fingers and waited. Severus cleared his throat.

“Potter is … unwell. He has not been sleeping. He has been… seeking me out.”

Albus still found a wish inside him that Harry had chosen Remus Lupin, who would have been free to go with Harry after Albus himself had departed for the next adventure. Remus, who could have loved Harry as a father or a brother, and yet was someone who could have walked with him to the end. Severus _must_ remain at Hogwarts. It was critical that the school not be left in the hands of a true Death Eater. 

“I take it this has been disturbing to you.”

It was clear what Severus wanted, though he didn’t say so in as many words. He wanted Albus to intervene, to remove either Harry or Severus from Grimmauld Place. Perhaps see to it that he no longer taught Harry. It would be simple enough to decide that the Chosen One needed personal tuition in Defense. Remus could provide it, or Albus himself.

If Harry were any other student developing a fixation on one of their teachers, Albus wouldn’t hesitate to separate them. 

But Harry wasn’t any student, was he? 

“Harry is a special case, as you well know. Is he getting what he needs from you in these visits?” 

What Albus was asking of course, was whether Severus could take the shattered pieces and put them back together into the boy that fearlessly faced basilisks and dragons and Voldemort himself. 

“I am concerned for him once school resumes. If he can’t…” Severus swallowed hard. “If he can’t come to me.”

If this cost the boy’s innocence, at least it would provide him with some comfort, before the end.

“Have you come to care for him, after all, Severus? After all this time?”

Perhaps more than comfort. Perhaps what they share could even carry a likeness to love, that most mysterious of all magic. 

**Author's Note:**

> Albus is gross. Just disgusting, both in canon and in the Pacify-verse. I don't think I'm going to write more than this from his pov. The thought of writing the governors' hearing from Dumbledore's pov makes my skin crawl. So... this fanwork of a fanwork is available for adoption, with the caveat that it might make you want to take eight showers a day to get into Dumbledore's head.


End file.
